Pacific Dunlop Champions GNB Technologies

25 June 1999

Pacific Dunlop Champions GNB Technologies

    ATLANTA--(AutomotiveWire)--June 24, 1999--Pacific Dunlop Limited is wasting no time in demonstrating support for its battery business, GNB Technologies Inc., after the proposed sale of GNB to Quexco Inc. failed to close last week. Atlanta-based GNB is one of the world's leading manufacturers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries.
    Pacific Dunlop announced the termination of the sale contract on June 17. In the news release issued from the company's Melbourne, Australia headquarters, Pacific Dunlop Managing Director and CEO Rod Chadwick said, "Pacific Dunlop is confident of the inherent value [of GNB], its people and its forward prospects. Our prime concern now is to turn our attention to realising the full operating potential of GNB." Pacific Dunlop already is taking the first steps toward that goal with a global tour to GNB customers.
    Just four days after the announcement, GNB president and CEO Thomas O. Minner and Mr. Chadwick launched a three week campaign, scheduling visits with GNB operations and customers in the automotive, industrial and recycling sectors in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia.
    According to Mr. Minner, GNB is following a steady growth plan built on three strategies: supporting existing customers; leveraging the company's integration; and developing new products, new markets and new customers. He says the company will maintain focus on these strategies as part of its long term business plan.
    GNB Technologies manufactures and recycles lead-acid batteries for the automotive, recreational boating, farm, heavy duty truck, electric utility, electric vehicle, photovoltaic, lift truck, railroad, telecommunications and uninterruptible power supply markets in more than 50 countries. With its own network of lead-acid battery recycling facilities, GNB is one of the few manufacturers to provide Total Battery Management(SM) [(TBM)] to its customers. (TBM) encompasses manufacturing and marketing new batteries and recycling spent batteries in company-owned facilities, reclaiming lead, plastic and sulfuric acid and delivering them to manufacturing. The company has 5,000 employees in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand and worldwide sales of roughly $1 billion. Champion(R) is its flagship brand.
    During the past year, GNB has recognized some benefits of its steady growth plan. It earned a number of achievements for its automotive business, earning prestigious awards from Advance Auto Parts, Ford Motor Company, John Deere, Toyota and Wal-Mart for excellence in products and customer service.
    "GNB constantly goes above and beyond. Due to their outstanding commitment and efforts, our battery business exceeded our aggressive target last year," said Advance Auto Parts executive vice president Chad Tilley. GNB has been a dedicated vendor partner of Advance Auto Parts for many years, and we value that relationship."
    GNB also opened a new channel of distribution for its products with the agreement to supply lead-acid batteries to Batteries Plus, the innovative, one-stop battery store and service center that sells and markets thousands of batteries for thousands of items.
    The GNB Industrial Battery Company achieved record sales of its valve-regulated batteries for electric vehicle and telecom/power control operations. The maintenance-free EV Champion(R) line grew at 35 percent. New sealed products led to increased sales at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, the world's largest telecommunications company. GNB also expanded operations in India, Brazil, France and the UK as well as manufacturing capacity in its Columbus, Georgia and Kansas City, Kansas plants.
    The company's four lead-acid battery recycling facilities are setting record production levels, up more than 10% percent from last year. The recycling facility in Frisco, Texas recently put a crystallizing unit on line to convert spent battery acid to sodium sulfate, a marketable product sold to the textile and other industries. The new crystallizer is GNB's second such unit, making the company the largest sodium sulfate producer in the secondary lead smelting industry.
    "With the confidence of Pacific Dunlop and the support of our customers, suppliers and employees, we will continue to operate GNB with a clear vision of the future," says Mr. Minner.

NOTE TO EDITORS: GNB can be found on the Internet at www.gnb.com. (R)Champion is a registered trademark of Federal-Mogul Corporation, distributed by GNB Technologies Inc. Total Battery Management(SM) is a service mark of GNB Technologies Inc.